A few cool-season leafy greens can be grown now (though sowing them a few weeks earlier is ideal) but few would survive the winter in containers because of the exposure to freezing weather (roots in pots are much less insulated from temperature extremes than roots in the ground). Candidates to try include arugula, corn salad (mâche), kale, spinach, and the more cold-hardy varieties of lettuce. In the garden these would usually be allowed to overwinter and resume growth to mature in spring. They won't actively grow much during winter since we have too few hours of daylight and the temperatures are too cold. You can't really bring them inside for protection, though, as this is too great a temperature difference (and still not enough light), but putting the pots in a tight cluster and perhaps covering them with a makeshift cold frame (somewhat like an unheated greenhouse that traps the sun's mild warmth and still gives the plants light) might help to buffer them from the worst of the cold.

A northeastern exposure is challenging to work with in terms of growing food plants since many need lots of direct sun to thrive and produce a decent harvest. Leafy greens are among those that tolerate less light since they don't have to flower and set fruit, but their productivity will decrease and/or growth will be slower. Some herbs can be grown in this limited-sun light, but even these really need 6-8 hours or more of direct sun to truly thrive. Parsley, thyme, basil, mint, chives, and a few others may do alright, though not all of these are winter-hardy so would need replanting each spring. You can use our Vegetable Planting Calendar for guidance as to when to start seeds of different vegetable crops.

Were the cucumbers and peppers planted recently? (We can't quite tell from the photos which pots contain which plants since most of them are small.) If so, it's much too late in the season for those crops and they unfortunately won't generate a harvest. You can visit our other vegetable pages and herb pages for more information about other specific crops.

Even though the window doesn't have an overhang and it's relatively large, it's still usually the case that outdoor growing spaces receive more intense ambient light than indoor sites (even in a sunny window) because of the diminished light level passing through the glass. Our eyes don't judge actual light levels very fairly since we can adjust to a variety of brightness levels relatively easily. Still, a bright sunny window indoors can be useful for growing houseplants that prefer moderate levels of light plus some herbs, though the latter might still stretch and get leggy over time.

Whether used outdoors or indoors, make sure any saucers used under drained pots are emptied promptly after watering (or rain) so they don't pool water. Otherwise, that moisture may seep back into the bottom drain holes and oversaturate the soil, causing root rot and plant decline. Saucers usually aren't needed outdoors, though there is no harm in using them if they aren't collecting water for very long.

The potting soils you've used should be fine, but to avoid accidental over-watering (especially since some blends seem to dry out slower than others), make sure you're feeling the soil about an inch or two in depth (depending on pot size, with the greater depth for larger pots). When becoming relatively dry to the touch at that depth, you can water thoroughly so the excess freely drips out of the bottom drain holes. In the spring-summer part of the growing season, depending on if any time-release fertilizer was part of the potting mix (if used fresh and not from a prior year anyway), you may need to regularly fertilize the containers to compensate for nutrients being used-up or leached out of the irrigation water. How often and at what strength will partly depend on the plant type being grown and what kind of fertilizer is used (and what its instructions say).

Miri

Thank you so much!!!! What are cold hearty lettuce types? I can plant thos now? If so how far apart the seeds so that the leaves can be bigger?  how can I grow bigger kale and spinach leaves? They are all so tiny

thank you for helping me . I am really new to container gardening and plants. I have no clue what Im doing eith either and trying to follow everyone on youtube has been confusing 

There is information about varieties of lettuce for overwintering and the spacing of plants on our Growing Lettuce page. Remember that this applies to in-ground plants, so any grown in containers will be even more vulnerable to the cold since their roots are more exposed. Since the autumn planting time frame of mid-October involves transplants that are already a few weeks old, it's too late to get started now. It's not only the risk of cold exposure as we move into November that's the problem for late-started plants, it's the shortening daylength. Plants will not get enough sunlight energy for growth once the daylight intensity and duration drops below a certain amount as we get closer to the solstice.

Visit our Growing Leafy Greens (for kale) and Growing Spinach pages for information about spacing, sowing times, and general care. Plants will need a minimum of 4 to 6 hours of direct sun per day to grow well and be healthy. Leaf size is related to plant variety, sunlight exposure, general plant health and nutrition, plant age, and competition with other plants for resources. In general, young plants have smaller leaves than more mature plants. If morning sun is only illuminating part of the balcony and the rest doesn't get any direct sun, or nor more than a couple of hours, you may not have the conditions needed to grow vegetables, even among those more shade-tolerant.

Gardeners on social media come in all levels of experience and education behind the science of horticulture, even if they sound confident about the subject or produce lots of content. Try to use local/regional University Extension source material as your reference points since it is more rooted in science and horticultural expertise relevant to your area's conditions. Some University web resources do include YouTube videos, but our most extensive library of content uses web pages that we keep updated. Other content creators from all across the country (or even in other countries) may be promoting gardening techniques that work for them that won't necessarily translate to success here; a lot of factors go into gardening success or failure and their advice may not apply to all situations.

Miri